Cursed by Chemistry (26 page)

Shauna’s brow lifted in agreement. She sat back. “Actually that explains a lot.”

“You. Have. No. Idea the extent of it. Seriously! He
did it
with O.” Kimmy cringed. “Seriously. Who would tap that? He’s like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Troll.”

Shauna swallowed in distaste. “So that’s where O comes in?”

Kimmy’s face lit with enjoyment, and she flapped a coming along gesture with her hand. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, by the time the construction team left, the house had been fitted with bars, sound proofing, the works. Richard’s got quite a knack for decorating too. Who knew?”

Shauna frowned. “Wow…oh-kay, but I still don’t see—”

“Well, with O being the lone,” she made air quotes, “
survivor
who knew about Richard’s flaming fascination for other men, and his appearance at the dungeon, apparently, Richard decided it would be best to keep his dirty little secret under lock and key.”

“Meaning O?”

“You got it. It didn’t take much to lure him there. Just a
little
chocolate.” She nodded to Adrian. “You’re out by the way. Now O’s under house arrest for the remainder of his life.” She looked skyward. “I’d tell you how long that is, but I really don’t want to jinx myself. Just know that he’ll be kept busy, on a steady diet of bread, water, and really,
really
bad sex. And not bad as in good. It’s bad—bad.”

Shauna shook her head. “You’re getting entirely too much pleasure out of this, you know that, right?”

Kimmy’s eyes widened with innocence. She let her hands fall to the large mound of blankets. “Why shouldn’t I? O’s fate only improved when you two were at odds. It’s
my
fate that gets better if you two lovebirds succeed. I happen to be the flip side of my brother’s coin. That’s all.” She wrinkled her nose. “By the way, ain’t karma a bitch?”

Shauna’s brows synched in disbelief. “Your brother. You’re really siblings? You and O?”

“Twins. Kind of a yin and yang,” Adrian offered.

Kimmy tipped her head. Her lips stretched to a wicked grin. “Well, I think we were actually triplets, but judging by the size of O, he probably ate the other one.” She pushed to her feet. “Long story short, you get a fresh start. With babies and everything.”

Shauna’s heart skipped a beat. “But what about the vasectomy?” She looked to Adrian.

“Hey, those things aren’t fool proof,” Kimmy exclaimed. “And you two will have a helluva good time shooting for the one-percent chance to spawn some little apotha-singies.”

“Good. Now get out,” Adrian said.

“Going,” Kimmy called over her shoulder.

Adrian followed close behind until he came to the door and flipped the lock behind Kimmy with an audible click.

Shauna gave her best attempt at a stern look with both fists planted on her hips. “Adrian Sands, where’d all those manners go?” Not that she really wanted Kimmy to stay.

“I only use good manners with my own lady. Now, about that exercise…” His expression turned thoughtful.

His lady?

His? Shauna couldn’t suppress her smile if she wanted to.

The mattress dipped under Adrian’s weight as he crawled onto the bed fully clothed. He hovered over her, his knees firmly anchored to either side of her hips and his forearms framing her upper half. The warmth of his body pressing into her built an erratic flutter in her chest.

The touch of Adrian’s lips came slow and content, teasing the perimeter of her mouth, until he puzzled their lips together and urged her mouth to open. She found herself straining closer, inviting his tongue’s exploration with a coaxing brush of her palm along his stubbled jaw.

The press of his mouth grew firm with an urgency Shauna answered. Every dive and retreat she met and welcomed, as she pushed her fingers through the back of his hair. She closed her fist around the thick, close-cropped strands at the base of his neck. Just long enough to catch between her fingers. She tugged.

The deep rumble from Adrian’s chest kicked off a blizzard of excitement in Shauna’s belly. Desperate to hear that sound again, Shauna let her hand wander to the button of his jeans.

He closed a hand around her wrist and urged her hand away. “You first.” The heated words tickled in the shell of her ear moments before his mouth descended to the crook of her neck. Tingles of delight chased down her body.

A tug at the band of her pajama bottoms, and Shauna’s stomach clenched.

“If…you don’t mind,” he countered.

Did she? Shauna paused. It was no problem removing his pants, but hers? Now that’s a different story. Not quite sure why, it just was. The flames-o-nuisance were a thing of the past, thanks to Adrian, but it left her feeling…unguarded.

Shauna went for his button again. Maybe if they did it together…

He urged her back and angled his head in opposition. “I lost my head last time. It was rude. Tonight, I show you how a true gentleman does it.”

Oh…boy. Her pulse funneled south, all the while pounding out an urgent signal.

Adrian tugged her bottoms free and tossed them aside.

Shauna closed her eyes. The easy caress of his palm started at her knee and moved up to graze her inner thigh. His thumb began a deliberate massage that nearly reached the outer folds of her seam before he retreated again. Back down to her knee. Several rounds of this ensued, and each time Shauna’s mind spun in a desperate chant as the warmth spread between her legs.
Closer, closer.
She squirmed.

Her legs eased further apart, and Shauna moaned. She remembered his touch. The way he’d toyed with her the first time. Oh, she’d been here before.

As if on cue, Adrian shifted lower. His moist breath met her inner thigh.

With his mouth? Not there. Too low. New territory. “Adrian!” she squealed in half-hearted protest.

“Mmm?” A seductive challenge darkened his gaze.

She opened her mouth, searching for a stall tactic. She could ask him to stop, but why would she do a silly thing like that?

His dark head lowered, and soft, warm kisses tickled across her exposed flesh.

“Umm…” Wasn’t she upset at him for one reason or another?

His kisses continued unhindered, veering into dangerous proximity to the slick folds between her open legs.

Hadn’t he betrayed her trust and stolen a rather sizable portion of her social life?

She released a nervous laugh. Was she really ready to forgive him so quickly? “You said gentleman.” She shifted in attempt to cut-off his wandering mouth’s destination.

“Yep, absolute gentleman,” he agreed. He cupped his hands under her bottom, all the while dealing her a sinful, trust-me glance. “It’s rude to make a meal of you without tasting first. Now be a proper lady and accept the compliment.”

Forgiven.

Her head sunk deep against the pillow. She used both hands to cover the embarrassment heating her face. “Hardly proper for a lady to put herself in this position.”

Adrian shifted to one side. The warmth of his palm under her left hip disappeared, but before she had the chance to wonder—
or secretly hope
—where it had gone, a feather-light caress chased over the sensitive petals of her vagina.

Any manner of objection fled her mind like dandelion seeds on the wind. Her thoughts swam as the caress deepened.

“In a moment, you’re going to forget
all about
where you are or what position you’re in.”

Her voice came of the tail end of a heady pant. “What, another dose of your magic?”

“I don’t know if I’d call it that.” The faint line of stubble that framed his lips tickled over her bare mound. “It’s more your magic than mine.”

The moist heat of his mouth seemed to spiral in a steady rhythm of pleasure straight to the aching weight of her core. Feeding it, stoking it, as the pressure of his mouth deepened, and edged upward to her clit. Shauna couldn’t keep her voice in check. The moment he introduced his first finger into her opening, her hitching cries dropped a full octave.

He stroked her, in and out, gradually adding a second finger as his mouth continued its torment. Her thighs clenched, and her hips rolled as she called out an intelligible chant at first, caught somewhere between pleading for him to continue and the fear of revealing exactly how much she liked it.

Her inner conflict fell helpless as she climbed to the crest of her orgasm with each perfectly measured flick of his tongue. Each thrust of his fingers.

He had to stop. At least slow down. “Please…” She squeezed her eyes tight and arched her back to what seemed an impossible angle. “I can’t take much more!”

The wicked performance of his tongue eased away, leaving her swollen vagina dripping and bare to his scrutiny. His gaze caught hers. His jaw set tight, not so much in anger, but with a lurid challenge she hadn’t recognized before. “Oh, you can take more,” he countered. “We’ve only begun.”

Shauna forced her anxious breathing to slow. What did that mean? The looming intimidation of Adrian’s unknown sexual history floated through Shauna’s mind. What if she really
couldn’t
take everything he promised to deliver?

What if she wasn’t ready for that? Whatever
that
was.

But Adrian didn’t appear to be in the elaborating mood. He stood from the bed and fisted the hem of his shirt, then yanked it over his head. He tossed it aside and shoved off his jeans. The rustle of fabric became the only sound until he turned his fully erect profile to face her.

Her attention dropped below his waist level, to take in the straining reach of Adrian’s—

A single word slammed into her mind.

Cock.

No other term could define it. That prominent tool, capable of both pleasure and pain, looked swollen with enough need to deliver a healthy portion of both.

Her thoughts must have registered somewhere on her face. Adrian’s expression turned tender. “Change your mind?”

Caught in a vice of anticipation, Shauna couldn’t squeeze out the words from her constricted chest. She shook her head.

He leveled his gaze. “How would you want it, pretty lady?”

She swallowed “Want—as in position?” People have this conversation?

Adrian’s brows lifted, still waiting for an answer.

“I don’t know…” She looked away. The heat that had radiated from every pore seemed to rush lightning quick to her face. “What’s best? I’m willing to experiment.” That last bit slipped out on a whim.

Is it possible to hunt whims down and blast them to a smoldering pile of ash? Adrian held medals as the reigning apothecary and the leading cultivator for underground sin.

And she wanted to play naughty with that?

Yeah, she kinda did.

“Best?” he countered. “That’s up to you.” He tugged at the hem on her shirt.

Shauna took the hint, and pulled the shirt over her head, thankful for the extra seconds of distraction. Guess it was Shauna’s turn to bail off the elaboration train. All remaining whims were on mandatory lockdown. Cool air tingled across her bare chest.

So her severe lack of bedroom adventure might have peeked out a little. But the thought of Adrian teaching her a thing or two had her lower half feeling all
new kinds
of intrigued.

“Pleasing
you
pleases
me
.” Adrian rounded the bed. “So forgive me if this sounds harsh, but for me? The
best
is when I get to see you come.”

Shauna pressed her lips together to keep her jaw from dropping on its hinges. His tone flowed warm and open as afternoon sunlight, but his words and their meaning loomed deep in the shadows of seduction.

Adrian grasped the tangle of sheets from the bottom of the bed and ripped them away. The rumpled cotton material billowed and then tumbled to the floor, well out of reach. Nowhere to hide. Shauna’s stomach tightened.

Adrian stretched out facing her. He cupped her shoulder and stroked the pad of his thumb down her arm, as if coaxing her attention. The sexy lure of his voice tickled over the sensitive curve of her neck. “I asked you a question.”

Shauna turned to greet his body and the image of their last encounter flashed through her mind. The way she rode against the firm expanse of his erection, and their hips grinding together in a mounting tempo.

The heady drumbeat of her pulse replied from deep in her core.

“I know you well enough now, Shauna. You
will
tell me.” As if sensing her thoughts, Adrian wrapped his arms around her and rolled her on top. His expansive arms trapped her there, her wet core pressing against the length of his shaft. Her body ached to move, but he wouldn’t permit it. Instead, he drew her forward, up the length of his torso until his mouth met the tight peak of her nipple.

When Adrian sucked it into his mouth, Shauna let a prolonged hum of appreciation for the delicate shards of pleasure and pain that shot through her breast.

Adrian rolled his hips until the mushroomed tip of his penis glided along her slick folds.

Shauna let her head ease back, and she sucked in a tight breath. “Oh…” Dear God, it felt good.

Adrian continued to administer the delicious friction with smooth, slow strokes. He gripped her hips with both hands and eased her lower half back and forth along the full length of him.

“Oh…I want that.” Shauna clamped onto Adrian’s massive shoulders, her nails scoring his heated flesh in a silent bid for more.

Adrian released her breast.

His strokes against the juncture between her legs became more desperate, but without the distraction on her breast, she couldn’t resist the heavy ache much longer. “I want it,” she cried.

“What.” He forced the back of his head deep against the pillow, and his eyes squeezed tight in what appeared to be a mix of pleasure and frustration. “Say it.”

“Your cock!”

Just as quickly, his head lifted again. A gleam of determination darkened his stormy gaze. He gritted his teeth, and in one fluid movement, he angled his hips deeper. The full expanse of his erection slid inside to consume her. Shauna’s moan of gratification spilled past her lips as Adrian eased back and thrust forward again.

She angled herself to meet him as their writhing bodies worked together, picking up speed. She plunged onto his swollen member again and again as they both strained for release.